robgraham wrote:

Personally I'd rather use a neon light stick than a meter - leads fall
out of meters, they unhook themselves, batteries fail, you require two
hands and I'm in more danger trying to find somewhere to clip the lead
to earth, and keep it there, than anything else. It's a case of know
your tools, be aware of their limitations and use them properly -
applies to everything from circular saws to screwdrivers.

I nearly always use some electrical tool or lamp or similar to test if
a circuit is live. Much of the time I will have been using (for
example) my SDS drill so to check if the circuit is off I check that
the drill doesn't run when plugged in to the circuit I'm working on.

As I have nearly always just used the drill I know that it *does*
run when there's electricity there.

The alternative I often use is a mains inspection lamp which I leave
permanently plugged in to the circuit and switched on, a very visible
indication of 'live'! (It's a fluorescent one so, while bulb failure
is possible, it's way less likely than for a filament bulb)

OK, there are times when the above won't work (lighting circuits,
etc.) and you also need to be sure the bit you are working on is the same
circuit as you have the device plugged in but most of the time I still
think my way is better than either neon screwdrivers or meters.

I do have both analogue and digital meters and use them when
appropriate. FWIW for checking 'liveness' an analogue meter has its
advantages over a digital one, it won't indicate due to capacitive
coupling and you don't have to stare at it to check whether it's
indicating 250 volts or 250 millivolts. (On the other hand it will
break if you try and check 250 volts on the 250 millivolt range!)

--
Chris Green